History student Adrian wins University of Sheffield annual essay prize

Tonbridge’s Adrian Shum (PH4) is the winner of a prestigious national essay competition.

Run by the University of Sheffield’s History Department, the annual contest is open to Lower Sixth students from schools and colleges across the UK and always attracts a high number of entries.

Competitors choose essay titles set by university judges. Adrian’s essay answered the question ‘Were the most important consequences of the French Revolution in Haiti?’ while drawing on a range of contemporary and secondary sources.

The citation for Adrian’s essay praised the quality of his writing, noting that his submission was “a well researched and historiographically engaged piece of work that makes nuanced analysis of the different influences on Haiti’s revolution”. Judges also commented that there was “perceptive and critical engagement with both classic and recent scholarship throughout”.

Adrian has been heavily involved with History extension this year, having been chief editor of the History Department’s magazine The Boar. He also attended this term’s Oxbridge sessions and took part in the trip to the Chalke Valley Historical Festival in Wiltshire.

He is intending to study History after his time at Tonbridge.